I have frizz-prone dry hair, and never thought that I would be able to blow-dry my hair on any kind of a regular basis. My experiences with blow dryers over the years are comparable to heating hay with a torch. Can you say parched? To my surprise, this Christmas, I opened a box with shiny gold wrapping and a large bow, just to find…you guessed it. It was a chrome-plated hairdryer staring menacingly up at me. This one looked extra large in size, too, and I guessed it had a powerful motor, since “1875” was plastered on it in bold, black lettering. I could already smell the scent of my curvaceous curls crisping and splitting like straw, and I figured that my mom’s gift must be some kind of cruel, malicious joke. I mean, I had curiously admired a few space-age looking hairdryers at the mall, but didn’t expect to actually ever own one. Plus, my mom was aware of my previously ghastly beauty appliance experiences.
My mom assured me that the Andis ACM-1 was no ordinary hairdryer, and proceeded to go over its unique features in a very QVC-like manner. First, I checked out the heat settings (All the while envisioning an ever-engulfing brush fire in my mind…). I noticed that the settings were pretty basic, and included high heat or low heat, high speed or low speed. I plugged the hairdryer in, just to notice that high heat is, in fact, very hot, and high speed blows very hard, surely delivering those 1875 watts of boasted power. Low heat and low speed were also just as the names imply. One neat feature I noticed right off the bat is that the Andis model ACM-1 hairdryer offers the advantage of being on a high heat setting with either a low or high air speed, and vice versa. You aren’t stuck with low speed and low heat or high speed and high heat all at once, which is an excellent feature.
However, while I was impressed by this (and the chrome finish and variety of aluminum attachments it came with), I couldn’t fathom actually using the thing with my delicate, damage-prone locks. Hairdryers have always made me look like a struck-by-lightening Bozo the Clown. But, just as I was about to open my mouth to politely inform my mom that the gift just isn’t for me, my mom turned into QVC queen again, and informed me that the ceramic and ionic properties of the Andis hairdryer make it totally one of its kind.
Apparently, the “ceramic” in a ceramic hairdryer refers to the hairdryer’s heating coils, which are usually made out of metal. When the coil is made out of ceramic instead, it produces far-infrared heat and negative ions, which smoothes and softens hair, helps eliminate frizz, hydrates hair, increases shine, and best of all–dries hair in half the time.
I smiled and nodded my head to please my ever well-meaning mother, gritted my teeth, and emotionally prepared myself for the trauma of the blow dryer. I hoped my hair wouldn’t turn
into a scorching inferno.
Lifting the hairdryer, I decided that it must have one heck of a motor inside of it, as it was a bit heavier than any other hairdryer I’ve used. While I wasn’t pleased with this fact, I tried to be positive, and envisioned the hairdryer working double-time, both drying my hair and toning up that lovely little “floppy spot” that women tend to develop on their upper arms. Well, I don’t have that “floppy spot” yet, but hey– prevention is key.
Feeling emotionally ready to take on the Andis Ceramic Ionic Hairdryer, I towel-dried my freshly washed and thoroughly conditioned hair. While I normally apply a heat protectant product, I decided this day to reduce the number of variables and make this an all-out scientific experiment. No heat protectants, leave-in conditioners, or anti-frizz serums. All I was using was freshly washed hair and the Andis hairdryer, at least for this first session.
After blow-drying my long and hard to manage locks for only 5 minutes, I was amazed by a product that I initially thought to be nothing more than a regular hairdryer with exaggerated claims. I could hardly believe it, but my hair dried at a much faster rate than ever before, and actually felt rather…soft. While I noticed that the speed of drying seemed fast almost right away, I wanted to wait until the end of the blow dry session to calculate total drying time before getting my hopes up. One normal session of drying my thick and generally uncooperative hair takes an average of 40 minutes. My first session with the Andis hairdryer cut drying time by a total of 18 minutes! I was surprised, but this time, in a good way. My hair was also much softer to the touch, was fairly shiny, and my frizz was reduced by probably 75%. Since I have extra frizz-prone hair, I would imagine that others who use the Andis hairdryer would have even better results, and possibly no frizz whatsoever. All in all, it turns out that my mom’s Christmas gift was a blessing, and that the Andis hairdryer is a well worth it purchase if you want to save time and maintain the healthy condition of your hair.
The Andis Ceramic Ionic Professional 1875 Hairdryer (model ACM-1) costs around $60.
